Hal Pilger: Rams fumble away chance at victory

With five games remaining, the St. Louis Rams secured it on Sunday. Another losing season.

Hal Pilger

With five games remaining, the St. Louis Rams secured it on Sunday. Another losing season.

By stumbling 24-19 to the 7-4 Seattle Seahawks at the Edward Jones Dome, the 2-9 Rams assured themselves no better than a 7-9 record this season, even if they would win their five remaining games.

And it's pretty obvious there's not much chance of that.

Some may have had visions of sugarplums - unrealistic dreams of an 8-8 record, an NFC West title and a playoff berth - dancing in their heads after the Rams' recent two-game winning streak on the heels of their season-opening eight-game skid. But any hope of making it three in a row vanished in a snap Sunday at the Dome.

At least this time it was the Rams' final snap, fumbled away by backup quarterback Gus Frerotte on a fourth-and-goal play from the Seattle 1-yard line in the final 30 seconds.
The Seahawks recovered, something the Rams will not do this season.

"It wasn't a perfect exchange; it just came out," Frerotte said. "I told myself walking up there, 'This is a big play; I have to stay with the center,' because on powers (power plays) and things like that they have to move to their left, and you're pulling out and you have to reverse out.

"Those are things that we always work on. I just have to stay with him. I can remember talking to myself walking up to the line. It just happened, but I'm gonna be thinking about that all night.

"It's gonna be a hard play to live with. It was a game that we probably should have won."

Said Rams coach Scott Linehan, "It was an off-tackle play to Steven (Jackson), and because of the bobbled snap we were unable to get it executed. When you have a bobbled snap, both guys (center and quarterback) are guilty parties."

You can sit back and watch that 100 times, and I'm sure be able to go back and forth, but it was obvious that it wasn't handled."

If for some masochistic reason you did watch it 100 times (ugh), the outcome would not change. The Rams would lose every time.

But this Rams defeat was much different than the Seahawks' 33-6 shellacking of the Rams last month at Seattle, which makes it all the more painful. Especially after the Rams held a 19-7 halftime lead following an outstanding defensive effort.

Everything that has plagued the Rams all season did so again on Sunday. Even during a first quarter that gave strong indications of what the Rams could be capable of, there was trouble that would manifest itself multifold later in the game.

First came the all-too-familiar special teams breakdown. After taking a 9-0 lead via a safety and Jackson's 53-yard burst off right tackle, the Rams allowed Seattle to pull within two by failing to stop Josh Wilson's 89-yard kickoff return.

Three plays later quarterback Marc Bulger - who had been sacked hard on the Rams' first possession - shoveled a short pass that was picked off by defensive end Patrick Kerney at the Rams 30. The Seahawks would fail on a long field goal try, but Bulger would not play again, walking slowly off the sideline to have his head examined. It was determined Bulger had sustained a concussion on the earlier hit.

"It was on the first series, when he got hit from behind," said Linehan, noting Bulger's status "will be evaluated during the week.

"He didn't seem quite right on the sideline. We talked a little bit, and I could tell right when he came you just by looking at him that something was a little different. On the next series he went in, and based on how he was acting, we knew he wasn't quite right."

Several minutes after that, center Brett Romberg reinjured his right ankle - again - and had to leave, meaning aging veteran Andy McCollum had to take over the center duties.

And the Rams, who had scored 16 first-quarter points, added only three more through the final three quarters - none after halftime.

"I'm disappointed in the fact that we didn't win the game, and the second half had something to do with that," Linehan said. "But there's a lot of things I could look back on."

There usually is.

"It isn't even that last play of the game," said Jackson, who dove to the 1-yard line on the preceding play. "It is just how we came out so dominant in the first half and then in the second half we were unable to get anything accomplished. I think that we punted on every possession except for that (Frerotte) interception we had."

Seven punts, the interception and, of course, the final fumble, to be exact.
"Just for us to come out so dominant and then sputter in the second half I think is really what is disappointing. We can't just dominate for three quarters and give it away."
They can - at least dominate for long stretches - and then, often, they do collapse. But why?

"The effort was there," Linehan insisted. "The guys were straining and fighting, and we put ourselves in position to win the football game.
"That was the disappointing part."

Actually, it would have been even more disappointing if they hadn't kept straining and fighting.

And that will be the real challenge these next five weeks.
Along with straining and fighting to watch.

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